North Korea tests underwater nuclear-capable attack drone

According to Al Jazeera, citing the North Korean government’s official news agency, KCNA, the country has conducted a test of a brand-new underwater nuclear-capable attack drone.

Notably, the drone was destroyed as part of the rehearsal to terrify the US and South Korean armed forces after operating continuously for 59 hours underwater. The new weapons system has been deployed and tested-fired by the North Korean military this week during a military drill directed by Kim Jong Un, with the aim of determining if it could produce a deadly blast.

According to KCNA, “This nuclear underwater assault drone may be launched at any coast and port or operated while being towed by a surface ship.” According to multiple media reports, the nuclear-capable underwater assault drone tested by Pyongyang can also unleash a “radioactive tsunami.”

As part of the experiment, the drone was dropped off in the ocean close to South Hamgyong Province on Tuesday. It drifted there for 59 hours and 12 minutes at a depth of roughly 80 to 150 metres (260 to 490 feet) before detonating on Thursday off the east coast of the province. Al Jazeera cited the South Korean news agency Yonhap as saying that the drone’s ultimate target point was a fictitious enemy port set up in the seas of Hongwon Bay.

A US B-1B strategic bomber returned to South Korea on Sunday to take part in a joint military exercise, just 16 days after its previous deployment, according to Yonhap news agency, citing the defence ministry. Pyongyang also launched another ballistic missile into the East Sea.